Humza Amin

Early life and background

Amin was born in 1998 and belongs to Generation Z. He lived in Michigan in the United States for about eight years, and said that its winters are freezing and miserable. His family moved from the US to Pakistan in 2006. During that period they stayed in Karachi for two weeks with relatives, then went to Lahore and Islamabad. [1]

His grandparents, uncles and aunts lived in Pakistan when the family returned. He has two sisters, one older and one younger. Amin said he has been watching YouTube since 2014. [1]

Education

Amin said his current priority is to finish his degree, and that his father strictly told him to do so. He said he once thought he could drop out of school to pursue YouTube, but he does not tell young people to do that. He does not plan to take the USMLE. In the long term he said he may move toward medicine as a profession. [1]

YouTube career

Amin began his channel in the second year of his medical studies, and said it began with his failing one of his exams. His first vlog went up on 4 February 2019. He was about 20 when he started. He set an early goal of 100 videos, and posted three or four times a week, as much as he could. [1]

Amin said that after three vlogs he felt the cinematic style was not him. He then matched more with personality-based creators he saw outside Pakistan, and began doing challenge videos like Western YouTubers. He said people may have seen something different in his personality-based content. He said he had 113 or 114 videos on his channel, and that after reaching 100 videos he had to ask what his goal was. [1]

Amin said he was very heavily focused on YouTube while stuck at home. He then started taking online exams and became busy with school. He wants to post one video a week for as long as he continues, and expects to stay on YouTube for the next four or five years. He said YouTube could become stale for him over time, and that he still edits his videos from home. [1]

Audience

Amin said he aimed his videos at university-age viewers. He said 18 to 24 year olds make up 60 to 65 percent of his audience, which is split roughly 50-50 between male and female viewers. He said children aged 7 to 13 also watch his videos, so he must stay safe on camera because young viewers may copy what they see. His parents and younger cousins watched his videos, and keeping his content clean was his main concern when he started. He said he tries to reply to comments on YouTube and Instagram. [1]

Income and business

Amin said his first YouTube income was an AdSense payment for views. He wanted to give his first paycheck to his mother, and said that giving her the money on camera is his favourite video. He said his revenue comes from AdSense and merchandising, and that merchandising paid off best for him. His merchandise launch was very successful and gave him creative freedom. [1]

He said he has done only one sponsorship and declines about 90 percent of the brands that reach out. About 40 of his videos have been copyright claimed. [1]

Views on Pakistan and YouTube

Amin said he cannot leave Pakistan. He said that two years earlier he would probably have wanted to move to America, and that his change of view came when his honest digital media work began to return results. He said he loves living in Pakistan and that, to him, Pakistan has everything. His main reason for staying was wanting to give something back to the country. He said he is positive about Pakistan's future and that more people are speaking out on public issues in recent years. He tells friends who complain about business in Pakistan to start now. [1]

Amin said a five-year YouTube ban put Pakistan's YouTube industry five years behind, and that its YouTube scene is still at the 2014 and 2015 stage of Western YouTube. He said the business side of social media and YouTube in Pakistan has not evolved. He sees that lag as an opportunity for early adopters, and thinks there is an open field for new creators. He sees a lot of potential in the new generation of vloggers, and said creators can make content for their own country in their own language. [1]

Amin described fellow creators as colleagues rather than competitors, and said he does not think creators see each other as competition. He said setting a fixed goal is foolish in digital media, and that what matters most is having a viewer and a relationship with them. He said drama can grow views and channels, that creator drama comes from pressure rather than intent, and that other creators have messaged him to propose staged drama. He also said declining views can frighten creators, that relevance on social media depends on the most recent video, and that creators can plateau when they lose touch with something new. [1]

Public life

Amin said he prefers to describe himself as making videos on the internet, not as famous, though he considers himself an influencer. He said he has a responsibility as a public figure and mostly likes being one. He said being a public figure has not really hit him, and that he does not feel any different from when he had 198 subscribers. He said criticism has never really affected him, though a couple of bad comments can affect younger creators. [1]

Amin said fans have started coming to his house, and that 10 to 15 people usually wait for him at the mosque after Friday prayers. He lives with his family and said he needs boundaries and space. He said the people who have approached him so far have been nice, and that he has had no bad consequences from his public profile so far. [1]

Timeline

1998

Born.[1]

2006

His family moved from the United States to Pakistan.[1]

2014

He started watching YouTube.[1]

2019

He posted his first vlog on YouTube on 4 February.[1]

Appearances

Frequently asked questions

References

1. YouTube's five-year lag is Pakistan's opportunity . Thought Behind Things , 2020-11-06.